The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a suspicious fire Thursday morning at a home under construction at 124 Mountain View Drive in Lakeview Mountain Estates.
Central dispatch was notified at 9:06 a.m.
County Fire Chief Donny Green said neighbors spotted smoke coming from the basement of this home, which belongs to a Murfreesboro couple. The owners were not there.
When firefighters arrived, they found a campfire type blaze in the basement, with rocks placed around a wood pile which had been set on fire. A drink bottle and food wrappers were also found nearby. Chief Green said the entire house was filled with smoke, but there was no structural damage.
According to Chief Green, there was evidence of another fire in the basement, which appeared to have been set days before and had burned out.
Green said the owners of the home recently became concerned after finding a sleeping bag in the basement. They reported the discovery to the sheriff’s department.
Members of the Cookeville Highway, Short Mountain Highway, and Main Station of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with DeKalb EMS and the Sheriff’s Department. No one was injured.
Meanwhile, the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was summoned to a duplex at 370 Smith Road, Friday morning at 2:42 a.m., the residence of Naith Puckett.
According to Chief Charlie Parker, Puckett said when he arrived home and opened the front door he found the residence filled with smoke. The fire had started and caused extensive damage to a back bedroom, but the blaze had already burned itself out by the time firefighters arrived. The fire damage was confined to Puckett’s side of the duplex and did not spread to the adjoining residence, although the woman who lives there reported smelling smoke earlier in the morning, but went back to bed after looking around and not finding any fire or smoke.
Chief Parker said city firefighters cleared the smoke, using fans to ventilate Puckett’s residence. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but remains under investigation. No one was injured.
Members of the Austin Bottom and Cookeville Highway Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded to a barn fire Friday morning at 3:48 a.m. at 9440 Goff Ridge Road in the Austin Bottom community. The barn, which belonged to Dan Bradem, was destroyed. No one was injured but some rabbits in the barn perished in the blaze.
Bradem, whose home is located near the barn, told firefighters that he heard a loud boom, went to check, and discovered the fire.
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